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Yes, Yes, Yes. I have met so many wanna-be bread makers who got or were given a bread machine and couldn't make a good loaf of bread from it. They tell me they followed the receipes EXACTLY and still were not happy with the result. I ask them if they open the machine while it is mixing and...

When you are thinking about the glass lid, it is best to have a pretty good seal to keep the hot air inside. If you can, use a gasket or other material squishey material that will help make a good seal. Mine also has a couple of screw adjustable little metal tabs that you swivel around to...

I would love to be able to give up trash service, but we are not allowed to! We have two dwellings on our property, so we have to pay double the fee to the county, and then there isn't any door service, we have to haul it ourselves to the dump! :mad: Plus I have had two flats in the past from...

How about split peas as a cheap food storage? I got enough to fill a one gallon glass jar, 7 lbs. at 68 cents a lb.(total $4.76) at Wally World (nasty place but necessary here). That is a lot of food for not much money! Justusnak, can you list a few of your freebee sites for us, or how you...

I have had my cutting guide for so many years I don't remember where I got it, sorry. But now that you know about them you can keep your eyes open for one! It really helps to cool any bread before cutting if you don't want to tear it. Use a sharp serrated knife. This loaf is about 3/4 home...

If I were starting from scratch on my home... I would build passive solar adobe instead of wood frame. It is so smart in our climate, these homes are comfortable. We don't have earthquakes here and homes in our town way over 100 years old are still wonderfuly naturally heat and cool...

I am so sorry to hear of your pain. Not getting enough rest can cause the worst depression. One of my old, beloved and now departed relatives, Wess lost one arm in a school bus accident when he was a kid. He was an amazing farmer and rancher, with hundreds of acres. He was very stubborn and...

Here is the loaf I made yesterday, it is vertical because I let the bread machine do all the work including baking. I cool it overnight in the refrigerator to make it easier for slicing in the guide. I would prefer a wood slicing guide, but I have not been able to find one. I slice the...

Roosmom, Try using a small ice chest if you have one. Put a couple of jars of hot water inside wrapped in tea towles and your starter. Close the ice chest and wrap it in a blanket. This is how I maintain temp for yogurt making, works like a charm. It also worked for my starter.

I finally got a chance to look at the new cook stove in the link, sure is cute! It is a more like a regular wood stove with an oven under the fire box. The 70% efficiency isn't the number to really worry about, it is the max BTU 30,000 per hour. You need to look at the size of your house, and...

annmarie, I have a regular quadrafire wood stove that is our only source of house heat. I cook on the top of it in the winter a lot. I use enameled cast iron, and different spots on the top are hotter than others, that is how I have some degree of control over the temp. I can also add wood or...

You don't want too tight a lid, because the reactions produce gas that has to escape. Good luck!!!

I don't get why cheese is so darned expensive, yet I got butter for $2 a lb. this week, no limit??? When the CA canned fruit went on sale last month in my local store there was no limit either, so I had them order in several cases for me. No scurvy for us! We get fruit from our trees so very...

Same here with one exception: Brown Rice. I store all my brown rice in the freezer except for a half gallon container in the 'frig. Rice will get rancid before any of the other whole grains IMHO and experience.

I used to be a lab tech a long time ago in a galaxy far far away. We cultured all kinds of bacteria, and I know the drills. I sterilize everything I can, but without a clean room and an autoclave I just am a failure at keeping a nice clean culture in my own kitchen!!!

I have seen home built models side by side with mine. They do work! A poorly built one will collect at most 50% of the heat mine does. A good one can go 75% or more. The main issues are: Can you actually get someone or yourself to build it? I asked DH if he wanted to build me one and he...

Over the years I have tried to make and keep a sourdough starter going, and have repeatedly failed. The problem I always have is contamination. Just by re-mixing the new batches as you remove starter every time I seem to introduce either unwanted bacteria or mold. The effort to start a nice...

I also married much much improved husband 2.0 in my late 40's. He had never had kids and had been "snipped". We are very happy with the empty nest, not counting cats, dog and chickens. My grown girls are not yet pregnant or married, and I don't want to even think of them moving back home. I...

Books rate so much higher than movies for me! Fiction - The Good Earth, Pearl Buck also Jack London and Mark Twain are at the top Non-Fiction - anything by Pema Chodron Fantasy - Harry Potter series, JK Rowling Sci Fi - The best of all was Heinlein, the world is a sadder place...

I didn't eat RIR Miss Henry's first egg of the new flock last year. I set it in an old bird nest on a safe shelf and it dried out to be a keepsake for me. Hundreds of eggs later, we take eating fresh eggs as a natural part of our day. I just love my sweet hens :D